Top 5 Storage Tips for 2013

As you go through life, it is easy to accumulate an excessive amount of belongings. Ultimately, this constant growth can become one of the strongest factors in determining your move to a larger house.

However, if you’re like the vast majority of us who can’t move house simply because you’ve got too much stuff, do not fear: there are various innovative methods that you can employ in your current home to maximise on your storage, and optimise your space. This article highlights five of them for you.

Maximise space in your bedroom

Bedrooms can get extremely cluttered, and you can often wake up to discover your mess is encroaching on you, getting closer and closer to swallowing you up. This is especially the case if you don’t have a particularly large bedroom.

You can maximise on space by buying storage boxes that are low and wide enough to accommodate things you don’t require everyday access to – and slide them under your bed. It’s an old trick, but it works like a charm.

You should also be careful about what kind of wardrobes you get. Doors that swing open will require more space, so you should try and get sliding wardrobe doors instead, which will give you a little more room.

The office-closet

If you don’t have a dedicated office room and there’s no space in your bedroom to work, why don’t you clean out a cupboard and turn it into a small workspace?

Remove the closet doors, nail some shelves into the wall and slide a small desk in there – one that’s large enough to hold a computer on it.

The subtle office in your living room

If you’ve got no space to fit your mini-office into an unused closet, try an unused corner of your living room. You can reduce the clutter and mess by utilising hidden storage to your advantage.

Use clean-front cabinets to hide the fact that the desk is in fact for work. When selecting a chair, make sure that it matches the aesthetic of your living room. This is for occasional working at home, rather than a dedicated home-worker. If you do most of your work from home, you will need a more work-oriented chair to protect your posture.

Get real and prioritise

Honestly, are you really going to need immediate access to all the toys and gizmos you and your family have accumulated over the years? Pack away all the things you aren’t using at the moment, and store them in the attic, under the stairs or under your beds.

It’ll make for a pleasant trip down memory lane in the future!

Review your book collection

Keep the books that you’re going to require again, like cookery books and other reference tomes as well as favourite novels you know you will want to read again; then work out what you’re going to do with the rest. Throwing away books seems almost immoral, so if you can store them in the loft then do so. Otherwise make a trip to the charity shop.

If you’re a book-hound and you love collecting them, try utilising a cupboard or two as a dedicated library.